Greek forces accused of killing 2 babies during push back operation

The Turkish coastguard has said that six migrants, including two babies, have died after being pushed back into Turkish waters by Greek forces.

The migrants told the coastguard that they asked for help from Greek security forces after running out of fuel, reports the New Arab, close to the Greek island of Rhodes.

They were transferred to a Greek boat, their valuables taken off them, and then left adrift close to Turkish waters.

They are thought to have set out from Tripoli in Lebanon on Saturday and were headed for Italy.

Human rights groups have for months highlighted illegal push backs, which have seen Greek authorities cast asylum seekers adrift in the sea without life jackets to prevent them seeking asylum there.

Human Rights Watch have documented how the Greek Coast Guard has damaged and removed the engines of their boats, removed the fuel and punctured the boats then left them near Turkish territorial waters.

READ: Six Syrian refugees found dead on boat reaching Sicily

At the beginning of this year the bodies of 19 refugees were found without clothes, shoes, or belongings after freezing to death near the Greek-Turkiye border with Ankara accusing Athens of pushing them back over the border.

In July the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Greek authorities had not done all they could to protect 11 women and children who died off the Greek island of Farmakonisi in January 2014 in a push back operation.

Survivors said that a Greek Coast Guard vessel towed the boat of 28 Afghans and Syrians towards Turkiye at high speed and in bad weather and the boat overturned. Later, some of the survivors were strip-searched in public.

The court also found that a thorough investigation into what happened had not been carried out.

In February, the UNHCR recorded almost 540 reported incidents of push backs by Greece since the beginning of 2020.

The UN refugee agency said it was “deeply concerned by the increasing number of incidents of violence and serious human rights violations against refugees and migrants at various European borders, several of which have resulted in tragic loss of life.”

Several human rights organisations have accused the EU’s border control agency Frontex of being complicit in these push backs, accusing them of failing to take action when allegations of push backs are presented to them and of concealing evidence.